Frost v. City Hall NY

Background

Yvonne Frost sued City Hall NY and the New York City Police Department, alleging that they violated her rights. She used the court’s general complaint form and identified her claims as “Unfair treatment. Wrongful action.” She listed New York City as the place of occurrence and October 14, 2019, as the date of occurrence.

Frost alleged that, after she sent letters and exhibits to offices in Albany, people came with chain links to beat her and others came to intimidate her. She also described an interaction with a New York City Police Department officer at City Hall concerning delivery of a letter to 1 Centre Street, and included statements she said she heard according to a vision. She requested compensation for damages and wrongful actions and asked that payments begin immediately.

The court had previously allowed Frost to proceed without paying filing fees. The opinion also states that Frost had filed more than ten fee-free actions within a two-week period and had filed 27 actions during the period from September 16 through October 21, 2019. The court had warned that further vexatious or frivolous litigation could lead to a restriction on filing new actions without paying fees unless she first obtained permission.

Legal standard

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B), the court must dismiss a complaint filed without paying fees if it is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim for relief, or seeks money from a defendant who is immune from such relief. The court must also dismiss when it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction. Although courts read complaints filed by people without lawyers liberally, those complaints still must present an arguable legal or factual basis.

Ruling

The court held that, even when read liberally, Frost’s claims were irrational and had no legal theory supporting them. It therefore dismissed the action as frivolous under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i).

The court explained that people without lawyers are generally given an opportunity to amend a defective complaint, but that amendment is unnecessary when it would be futile. Because the defects could not be cured by amendment, the court declined to grant Frost permission to amend.

Other orders

The court left in effect its warning that further vexatious or frivolous litigation could result in an order barring Frost from filing new actions without paying fees unless she first received the court’s permission. It also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The order directed the Clerk of Court to mail Frost a copy and record service on the docket.